


Mission Objective

by Littleviolentone



Series: Anger of a Gentle Man [5]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bad Parent James MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Blood and Injury, Established Relationship, F/M, Healing, Healthy Relationships, Hurt/Comfort, James MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016) Being an Asshole, James MacGyver Bashing (MacGyver TV 2016), Just to be safe, Nightmares, Self-Sacrifice, possible trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:21:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23541523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littleviolentone/pseuds/Littleviolentone
Summary: While the security team was busy trying to take cover, Mac slung one of Riley’s arms over his shoulder and hauled ass back to the van.Jack would have said that they ran like they had the devil on their heels. Actually, Jack probably would have just been cussing them both out for putting themselves in danger like this, but Mac didn’t have a lot of room in his head for things that weren’t connected to keeping Riley alive just then.
Relationships: Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Anger of a Gentle Man [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648357
Comments: 17
Kudos: 180





	Mission Objective

**Author's Note:**

> I am so sorry that this installment took so long. This story just did not want to go in a straight line. It's a little darker than last time and there may be some triggering things in here, but nothing explicit. Please be careful.
> 
> As always let me know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
> Little Violent One

Mac had learned many things about Riley since they had gotten together. It took her forever to fall asleep, but she slept like the dead once she was out. She had a specific order in which she would make her coffee, which involved way too much sugar in his opinion. She was somehow, both a snuggler and a blanket-hog at the same time. She absolutely hated onions more than any other food on the planet, and her hands were always, always cold.

The first week they were together he learned that she loved his hands in her hair, or when he pressed her into the bed and held her against his chest. The second week he learned that even though he loved to watch her do yoga, doing it with her was awful, he wasn’t nearly as flexible as she was. She thought that was far too funny. She was a better cook than he was, but only just. She could reliably make scrambled eggs or grilled cheese without burning the house down, but nothing else. Bozer had written them both off as hopeless.

He loved that she would wind her fingers through his belt loop when they stood together. She loved when he let his hands wander her body, though she would give him token warnings to behave himself in public, she never tried very hard. Mac loved that all it took to make her tremble was a low whisper into her skin and the way she sighed his name when he did. Riley loved that all it took to turn him into a horny mess was tossing on one of his shirts and talking about anything scientific.

He also learned that she had nightmares about her time in super-max. She never went into much detail about them but he could tell they were bad. She stopped apologizing for waking him up with her thrashing the night she had to wake him up from one of his own nightmares. Sleeping got easier for both of them when they realized that their dreams hadn’t scared the other away.

Their relationship was something of an open secret among the team. They hadn’t told anyone that they were together but they weren’t hiding it either, and would confirm it if someone asked them. Bozer knew, Matty knew, Desi probably knew but hadn’t asked them yet, and no one had told Jack.

Mac thought that they were doing well, he loved her in a way he had never thought possible before, he didn’t feel off balanced with her or like he had to hide the parts of him that were broken. He loved her and by some miracle, she loved him back.

The mission that time was simple enough; observe and report. Watch the suspected corrupt diplomat at his house and record everything he says and does until they had enough evidence to give to the U.N. It was a cake walk, nothing they hadn’t done a million times. It was all going well until one of the bugs they’d planted took some damage in an unexpected thunder storm and had to be replaced.

Riley, as the resident tech expert, was chosen to go fix it while Mac and Desi watched from the surveillance van. She had to move carefully over the uneven ground and work slowly so as not to further damage the equipment setup. She was about halfway done when Desi spotted movement on one of the other cameras, headed straight for Riley’s position. 

Mac called the order to abort, Desi and Matty both echoed him. But Riley, beautiful, stubborn, goddamn perfectionist that she was, refused to move until the new bug was planted and activated. Then she was running for her life back towards the van, with security hot on her heels, and she wasn’t going to make it.

Mac had been in, and seen enough foot chases to know when one would fail. A quick glance at Desi’s stricken face confirmed his thoughts, and he was out of the van running top speed toward Riley. He could hear Desi calling after him. He could hear Matty via coms telling him to stand down. He didn’t even pretend to listen.

Mac knew that what he was doing was stupid from a tactical standpoint. The risk of capturing one American agent was bad, two was worse. By that logic he shouldn’t be risking himself like this, he also knew that Matty would never leave Riley behind, but he didn’t care. There was no scenario where Riley being detained by a, possibly corrupt, wealthy diplomat for any length of time was an acceptable outcome. His mission objective had entirely shifted focus to saving Riley, so he ran.

He could see her now, limping as she ran, with the diplomat’s security team far too close behind her. His focus widened out to take in his surroundings, identifying and categorizing what was around them. What was a potential risk, what was a potential asset, the calculations happened almost instantaneously in his head at this point.

Riley’s face looked pained, but focused. Her eyes held a level of trust in Mac that he didn’t currently share, but was glad to see. He planted his feet in the uneven ground as Riley instinctively dove behind him. Not even a second later, the security team rammed into him like a freight train, and then they were both fighting for their lives.

Mac intentionally took most of the damage on himself, trying to take up the majority of their opponents attention in the hopes that Riley would find a chance to escape. He knew she wouldn’t though, Riley would never willingly leave him here anymore than Mac would leave her.

Doing his best to keep an eye on her during the fight, Mac caught glimpses of her bloody lips twisted in a snarl, one eye already swelling shut, her gun-metal gray nails, cracked and broken, slashing across a guard’s face. They were losing, badly. Mac was trying to figure out a way to lead the men away from Riley when the head of one of their attackers seemingly exploded, quickly followed by the retort of a rifle.

Desi.

Trained sniper, one of the first women to graduate from Ranger School, and currently one of Mac’s favorite people on the planet. She had found a sniper’s perch and was laying down cover fire for their escape. Thank God for Desi!

While the security team was busy trying to take cover, Mac slung one of Riley’s arms over his shoulder and hauled ass back to the van.

Jack would have said that they ran like they had the devil on their heels. Actually, Jack probably would have just been cussing them both out for putting themselves in danger like this, but Mac didn’t have a lot of room in his head for things that weren’t connected to keeping Riley alive just then.

The van was just coming into view when shots rang out behind them. The team had evidently given up on taking them in alive. They were maybe twenty yards from the van when Desi dropped from a tree and took up a position by the driver’s side door, rifle strapped to her back, side-arm drawn and firing.

He was helping Riley into the back of the van when Mac was suddenly violently reminded that there were consequences for using your own body as a shield for a hail of bullets, namely, getting shot. His right side lit up with pain as he fell half inside the van. Riley screamed, the first noise she had made since this whole mess started.

Bullets were still whizzing overhead, Riley was screaming at Desi to drive while she pulled him the rest of the way inside. Mac tried to help her, but his body was mostly dead weight at this point; shock, pain, and sudden rapid blood loss taking their toll. The engine rumbled to life underneath him and with one last massive effort, Mac lifted his body up enough for Riley to haul him in.

Mac had become accustom to the feeling of Riley’s body beneath his in their months together, as well as the various noises she would make in that position. What he heard when he fell on top of her was clearly a cry of pain and panic, but he had no more energy to help her. He could only watch as she rolled him off of her and reached for the door of the now moving van, to drag it shut.

Thinking got harder and harder as the pain became thicker. Desi and Riley were yelling back and forth, he could hear Matty’s voice from somewhere. Riley’s hands were on him, moving him this way and that way, it hurt but he knew he shouldn’t fight her. His side was on fire.

His vision was going fuzzy, this was bad sign but he couldn’t quite remember why. Riley was leaning over him, but something was wrong with her face. She was all bruised up and bleeding, she was hurt. Why was she hurt? Why was she crying? His Riley never cried.

He tried to wipe her tears away, but he couldn’t get his arms to work right and his fingers felt clumsy and stupid. He managed to lay one hand along her cheek, hoping to calm her down, but she just let out a sob and leaned into his touch. 

It broke Mac’s heart to see Riley cry, it always had. He had to try and get her to smile, somehow. He opened his mouth but nothing came out except a gasping gurgling sound. He seemed to have no more control over his mouth than he did his fingers.

She was shushing him as she leaned down closer to his head. Her beautiful dark hair formed a soft curtain around the both of them. She smelled like blood and sweat. Like dirt and pine needles. Like figs and roses. Mac drew a deep breath in and tried to focus on the self-appointed task of making her smile again. Everything hurt but her.

“I l-love you… Ri-Riles,” he gasped. He did his best to make his mouth turn up at the corners, to show her he was alright even though he clearly wasn’t. “Love you.”

She leaned further into his touch, eyes dropping closed, her hand coming up to press his tighter against his cheek. When she looked at him again something in her gaze looked shattered, but she blessed him with a watery smile all the same.

“I love you too, Mac” she whispered into his hair, just before he felt a kiss pressed into the skin of his forehead.

He relaxed, though he could hear Riley begging him not to. Everything was going soft and dark and cold. He could smell blood and figs and roses, but he couldn’t hold on anymore. When he let go, the nightmare began. 

Mac’s whole world became a horrible kaleidoscope of memory and imagined terror. 

There was his mother wasting away in her hospital bed. There she was choking on her own blood as Murdoch stood over her grinning.

His father walked out the door of his childhood home leaving him small and alone. Stranded in the cold dark house and this time his Grandfather never came for him.

Bozer died with his brother on that horrible afternoon of the little boy’s birthday and Mac couldn’t stop it.

Over and over it happen. Jack, Bozer, Matty, Desi, his parents, his Grandpa. They all died, over and over and always bloody. Jack died in the explosion with Pena. Desi drowned on that ship in the arctic with Zoe, both screaming for help he couldn’t give. Matty bled out in Murdoch’s torture room. He kept watching them die, but he couldn’t make a move to help any of them.

He tried to fight, to run. He screamed until his throat felt bloody and torn, but nothing stopped it. Everything he saw was death and blood and carnage, and he was powerless to help or even look away. When everything went black again he thought it was over, until the screaming started.

Riley’s voice split his skull like an ax. Sharp and cold with terror, she screamed for him. She called for help, begging for him to come back to her. He tried to call back, tried to let her know he was there, but he couldn’t see. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t make a sound.

“Mac, where are you!” she cried. 

I’m here, baby! He couldn’t respond.

“Mac, help! Please Mac, please!” she shrieked.

Hold on Riles, I’m coming! I swear I’m coming to you! He couldn’t call back.

“It hurts Mac! God, make it stop!” she sobbed.

Riley! He couldn’t yell.

“Why would you leave me?!” she screamed, voice breaking.

No! No I didn’t! I would never leave you, Riley! Please! He couldn’t even whisper.

He was in hell, he had to be. What other explanation was there? He was in hell listening to the woman he loved suffer, believing he’d left her to her fate all alone. He couldn’t move or speak, he couldn’t get to her, couldn’t save her. And it just wouldn’t end. God, just let it end!

Slowly he became aware of something soft against his face. But that made no sense, hell would not permit the existence of anything soft. Hell burned away everything until only agony remained. Still the softness persisted in defiance of the hellfire around it, soothing him little by little. 

Centuries could have passed as he slowly became aware of more than just pain. His body (he still had a body?) was lying on something warm and cushioned. There was cool air against his skin, and on the air was a pleasant smell, a familiar smell. Roses? Figs?

Mac knew that scent, it meant home, and safety and comfort and…. Riley. Riley was there close by, and he’d happily fight through hell again to get to her.

“He’s waking up!”

Peeling open his eyes felt like pulling up strips of duct tape from a cold roll. His mouth tasted like rancid meat, his head felt like it was full of cotton, and his whole body hurt. But there was Riley leaning over him as his eyes focused, softly stroking his cheek and smiling. She was here. She was alive, and so was he. Mac reached a shaky hand up and threaded his fingers through hers to hold her hand tighter to his face.

She looked exhausted, covered in old bruises, swollen eye, mottled skin, and the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“Are,” his voice sounded low and sticky. He had to cough a couple times to clear his throat. “Are you okay, Riles?”

She laughed. She laughed until she cried and he pulled her down to lay against his left side and held her as she sobbed into his chest. Desi stepped into his line of sight, looking about as fragile as he’d ever seen her. He held out his hand to her and immediately she latched on. With a wobbly voice, she explained that Riley had pretty bad sprain to her left ankle, a minor fracture to her wrist, and some assorted bruising.

“She’s gonna be feeling it for a while but overall, she’s fine. You saved her Mac,” her voice had slowly gotten softer as Riley cried herself to sleep on his chest. “It’s the first sleep she’s gotten in two days.”

“Why?” he croaked, worriedly.

“You weren’t doing good, Mac.” Desi explained. “Most of your injuries are just normal bumps and bruises, but that bullet nicked an artery. It’s sheer dumb luck you didn’t bleed out in the van on the way to the hospital.”

Mac could only watch, stunned, as Desi wiped tears from her face with one hand while the other kept a firm hold of his.

“When you got out of surgery the doctor said you’d be alright. Neither one of you were awake yet, and I was just there in the waiting room by myself. And then you had some sort of allergic reaction to the anesthetic. When Riley came to, you were crying in your sleep, and you kept calling for people. Mostly her, but you were calling for Jack, and Matty, and Bozer. You even called for me a few times. It was hard to watch, for both of us. You’ve been in a coma for four days.”

“Well, I guess that explains the nightmares.” was all he could think to say. Desi scoffed and shook her head with a weak grin.

“Yeah, probably.” She let go of his hand just long enough to pull a chair up to his bedside before grabbing it again. “Get some sleep, Mac both of you need it.”

He wanted to argue. He wanted to say that he’d just come out of a coma, he’d slept enough. But his body apparently agreed with Desi, and he felt himself drifting off. Riley was pressed safely to his side, Desi ran her thumb soothingly across the knuckles of his right hand, he felt safe and loved, but he fought sleep anyway. He didn’t give in until he heard a warm voice singing a lullaby softly in what he guessed was Vietnamese.

Recovery after a bullet wound was a bitch, but Mac was kind of getting used to it by now. And if that wasn’t the most unnerving realization of his life, he didn’t know what was.

They were finally back home. Mac was starting to be able to move somewhat normally again, he would have tried going for a short run to test himself, but Riley would have broken his legs if he even suggested it. She was by his side everyday insisting he follow the doctor's instructions to the letter.

Riley had, unsurprisingly, recovered from her injuries much faster than he was recovering from his. When she wasn’t worrying over him, or pestering him to hold still, she seemed to be taking obscene amounts of joy in teasing him.

He’d beg, and groan, and tell her that as soon as he could move properly again he’d make her sorry she ever started this game. But she only smirked as she leaned close to him and chuckled, “Promises, promises.”

That morning he got home from his physical therapy appointment to find his father’s truck in the driveway. A strange mix of confusion, hope, and anxiety welled up inside him as it always did when he faced his father. He opened his front door and called out to Riley.

“We’re in here, Mac.” she didn’t sound happy.

Mac walked slowly into the living room to find Riley standing opposite his father, the cluttered coffee table between them. They were facing off like a duel in an old western, legs spread, shoulders tense, arms slightly elevated from their sides. Clearly he’d walked in on some sort of fight. Fantastic.

“Dad, Riles,” Mac glanced between them as he came to stand by Riley, putting a hand on her waist. Neither one looked at him. “What’s going on?”

“Would you like to give you son your new orders yourself, Sir? Or would you prefer I do it?” Riley’s tone was a venom laced approximation of respectful. Mac’s other hand went to her waist to hold her.

“What orders,” he asked, filling with cold dread.

“Tell him, Sir.” she spat. His father held his silence. “Tell him!”

“Dad?” James’s eyes met his for an unreadable second, but the man said nothing.

“Fine then,” Riley turned in his arms with forced casualness. Her hands knotted into the front of his shirt and her eyes burned with fury and possibly fear. “Oversight, after a careful review of our last mission together, has deemed our ongoing relationship to be detrimental to the functionality of the team, and hazardous to your personal safety and mine. We are therefore under orders to terminate the relationship immediately. I am also under orders find another residence within the week or be dismissed from my position at the Phoenix. Did I leave anything out, Sir?”

“What the hell, Dad?” Mac looked at his father in horror, pulling Riley half behind him on instinct. “Is that true?”

“Yes, Angus. It’s true.” he sounded far too calm. “Your relationship with Miss Davis nearly got you both killed. Her loss would have been a massive blow to the Phoenix, but there are other computer experts. You are the invaluable asset. The Phoenix doesn’t function without you. Therefore, to avoid more unnecessary risks in the future, your relationship must end, now.”

Mac was caught in an icy rage so thick, that it was actually hard to breath for a moment. His fucking father had really outdone himself this time.

“Are you so goddamn broken that you can’t even admit to being worried about me without having to hide behind work?” he asked, trembling. “I’m not an asset, Dad, I’m your son. But you can’t take the risk of coming out of your Oversight armor to figure out how to be my father again, so you wrap the remnants of your parental concern up in logic and call it a mission review. Riley is just as invaluable to the team as I am. She is not replaceable or worth less than me, you cold-hearted bastard. You do not dictate my relationships, ever. You lost the right to have any input in my life the day you left.”

“Son,” James tried to speak, but Mac was on a roll now. Eighteen years of built up hurt and anger finally finding an outlet.

“No! You’ve had your say, you’ve given your excuses, and I’m through listening! I’m sorry you lost Mom. I’m sorry your friend betrayed you. But you are not the only person on the planet to have suffered losses. You’ve made it clear that you are not capable or interested in being my father, so get the fuck out of my house and do not ever darken my doorstep again. By your choice, you and I no longer have any relationship. As for the Phoenix, well you gave us an ultimatum, so let me give you one: If Riley leaves, I leave.”

James looked stricken. He opened his mouth like he was going to try and argue, but closed it with a shake of his head and quietly walked to the door. Neither Mac nor Riley moved until they heard the truck drive away.

They both walked silently to the couch, arms still knotted around each other, to collapse on the cushions. She curled into his side, rubbing soothing patterns on his chest, as he ran a calming hand through her hair.

“What did you say after he gave that whole speech?” Mac asked on a whisper a few minutes later.

“I said that I didn’t give a damn what he did to me or my job. I leave a relationship when I decide to and not before. And if he didn’t like it he could go to hell.” Mac gave a tired chuckle and leaned down to kiss her.

“I love you” he said.

“I love you, too” she murmured against his lips and pulled back to look him in the eye. “But what are we going to if Oversight does fire me?”

“Then I’ll quit, just like I said, and we’ll find other jobs and figure it out one day at a time.” He said it like a simple statement of fact, because for him it was.

“Mac!” her voice held a slight note of panic. “I can’t let you just quit your job for me!”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s insane!” she said like she thought he wasn’t getting something obvious. “You love the Phoenix, you love being an agent, you can’t give that up for me!”

“I can’t be an effective agent without you. No, no. Listen,” he cut he off before she could argue. “I don’t need you by my side every second of the day, and I don’t need you with me on every mission, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that working with you has made me a better agent and a better person. You understand me in the field better than anyone else on the team, if you were gone the team would be at risk. For so many reasons. So, yes I would quit a job I love for you, rather than put everyone at risk by trying to do it without you.”

There was along moment where she didn’t say anything, just looked at him in amazement. Then she was kissing him breathless and all Mac could do was fist his hands in her hair to hold on.

“I love you. And if Oversight wants to fire me and you quit then, I guess we’ll just have to improvise.” she gave him a blinding smile.

“Exactly,” he agreed. “But don’t start job hunting just yet. Let’s see what Matty has to say about this, okay?”

“Okay.” she agreed

Let his father call his bluff if he wanted. He’d find out just how far Mac was willing to go for someone he loved. Because what he’d told Riley was true, he’d rather quit the Phoenix today than walk into that building without her. If he had a choice he would never be without Riley Davis again, for as long as he lived.

**Author's Note:**

> Can you guys tell I hate Mac's dad? 
> 
> Cause I do.
> 
> I know everyone's life is crazy right now, but I hope you all are safe, and happy. You are all in my thoughts and prayers through this madness.
> 
> Love,  
> Little Violent One


End file.
